Houston Restaurant Openings to Know Right Now, January 2025

The New Year kicks off with a French modern bistro with big Houston vibes, a Filipino tasting menu restaurant, and a cocktail lounge with bites from an award-winning chef

This periodic column highlights notable restaurant openings in and around Houston. Catch up on more news about Houston restaurant openings right here.

Know of a new or soon-to-open restaurant that should be on Eater Houston’s radar? Get in touch by emailing houston@eater.com.

Bol

Following the opening of its “fried chicken parlor” Pok Pok Po in Midtown, the team behind the elegant Indian restaurant Amrina in The Woodlands has opened another restaurant. Fast-casual restaurant Bol opens next door to Pok Pok Po on Thursday, January 30. The adjoining new spot is somewhat like the Chipotle of Indian food, with fresh ingredients and grilled proteins cooked on the tandoori in buildable basmati rice bowls, wraps, and sandwiches.

Perseid

Chef Aaron Bludorn, the chef behind Navy Blue and his namesake restaurants Bludorn and Bar Bludorn, opened his newest restaurant on Thursday, January 16. Named after the meteor shower that peaks each year in August, Perseid (4110 Loretto Drive) is a modern French bistro tucked away in the swanky new Hotel Saint Augustine in Montrose. Diners can experience French dishes with big Houston flavor, including duck garnished with mango, crawfish sausage in Creole sauce, liver pate served with flaky biscuits, and warm beignets stuffed with spiced berry coulis and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Be sure to venture into the hotel’s lounge, where music plays on a vinyl record player or reel-to-reel deck, with bites and cocktails served from the restaurant.

Maximo

After a three-week break, this Mexican restaurant in West University (6119 Edloe Street) reopened with an entirely new menu on Tuesday, January 14. Owner Benjy Levitt says he was determined to make Maximo more of a destination restaurant with full-service dining. He tapped Adrian Torres as executive chef, who has used the menu to further showcase Mexican ingredients. Masa is still a focus, as seen in dishes like its sopes and tetelas, masa- and salt-crusted halibut, cornbread, conchas, and banana pudding buñuelos topped with banana ice cream.

Carla Gomez

Lee’s

Local Foods Group, the hospitality group behind restaurants like Local Foods and Milton’s, reopened a rebranded version of its former wine bar, Lees Den in Rice Village (5117 Kelvin Drive). Lee’s Cocktail Bar opened on Monday, January 3, placing special emphasis on affordable drinks. In addition to wine, there are new cocktails that focus on colors — the Red Poppy is a combination of poppy seed, brandies, almond, lemon, and egg white — and there are half-sized sips like an Apleteeny cocktail for those who are going light on the alcohol.

Alora

Chefs Diego and Makayla Ponce and partners Ngoc Tran and Louis Lamson Quy teamed up to open a Montrose restaurant with an entirely new fusion. Alora opened on Thursday, January 2, in the place of former Viet-Cajun restaurant Kau Ba (2502 Dunlavy Street), serving up its inventive version of Peruvian-Vietnamese cuisine. Diners can find dishes like Shaking Lomo Saltado, a mashup of the Vietnamese stir-fry dish shaking beef, and the Peruvian version — lomo saltado, in addition to ceviche, Aji de gallina crispy spring rolls, and a rich Cuatro Leches.

Louis Quy

Chikahan

One of Houston’s first-ever Filipino-inspired fine dining restaurants opened in Sawyer Yards (2313 Edwards) in early January. Chef-owner Andrew Musico crafts a seven-course tasting menu that uses seasonal produce to pay homage to Filipino and Texas cooking traditions.

Melrose

This new Montrose cocktail bar, which quietly opened Christmas weekend at 2517 Ralph Street, breathes new life into the space that once housed the now-closed cocktail bar La Grange. Open daily from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., Melrose offers cocktails like mango habanero margaritas, an intriguing Champagne and Caviar drink made with creme de banana, prosecco, and balsamic pearls, and martinis, including an espresso martini and a gin-infused Detox version, mixed with coriander, elderflower, celery, pineapple, basil, and chili. Emmanuel Chavez, the James Beard Award semifinalist and chef behind Michelin-starred Mexican tasting menu restaurant Tatemo, crafts the bites, including kampachi tiradito, spicy tuna rice crisp bites, smoked beef sausage Pigs in a Blanket served with homemade mustard; buttermilk-brined chicken tenders with Melrose sauce, and a Melrose Burger made with 44 Farms beef.

Michael Anthony

To see a list of last month’s openings, click here.